Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Bill would overhaul criminal justice system, save $650 million

The cost of Nevada’s criminal justice system is growing at an alarming rate, along with the prison population, Nevada Supreme Court Justice Jim Hardesty said on "Nevada Newsmakers."

To rein in those costs, Hardesty supports Assembly Bill 236, which would overhaul the state’s criminal justice system, change some punishments to better fit crimes and save an estimated $650 million in the next 10 years. The savings could be used to fund other areas, such as education and mental health services, Hardesty told host Sam Shad.

Some of the proposal’s 25 recommendations include giving judges more discretion for alternative sentencing, adjusting punishments for burglary and theft, creating diversionary treatments for drug users and reclassifying some felonies.

Prison costs have skyrocketed in Nevada, with the inmate population expected to hit 15,000 by 2028, according to legislative testimony.

“The state now has an imprisonment rate that is 15 percent higher than the national average,” Hardesty said. “The state’s female prison population has grown by four times the rate of the overall prison population.”

The bill reconsiders the penalties for some nonviolent crimes. “We want to also make sure the sentence lengths for certain crimes are proportionate,” Hardesty said.

The bill under consideration, shepherded through the Legislature by Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, does not, however, include any breaks for violent criminals.

“What we are talking about is offenders who are nonviolent offenders,” Hardesty said. “We want to extend to judges the ability to divert those folks away from incurring a felony, which is on their record for a long period of time and affects their life, but more importantly, get them into treatment so that they can be, hopefully, rehabilitated.”